living and running in the windy city

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Thursday Things

1. Serious question: why are the trees in this city by and large still green? Isn’t it the end of October? Shouldn’t I be walking outside to have my breath taken away by a veritable rainbow of reds, oranges, and yellows, not a bunch of greenery with the occasional smattering of yellow? I WANT MY FALL COLORS, DARN IT!

^^Not from this year. Also not from Chicago.

I’m blaming the fact that October has leaned more towards November/December in the temperature department for the lack of arboreal beauty. Unless maybe this is the norm in Chicago? In college, I remember the trees always peaked right around fall break, which was the second week of October. I wouldn’t think jumping shores of Lake Michigan would make that significant of a difference, but I’m hardly a botany expert.

2. Speaking of fall, though: this weather you guys. It is so cold and I am LOVING IT (except when I’m underdressed on my commute, because I just cannot convince myself that it’s appropriate to wear gloves and a hat in October). I’ve been reacquainting myself with my cold weather wardrobe, I’ve broken out my pea coat, and, at long last, tea season has returned.

I never jumped on the must-injest-caffeine-every-morning-to-function train, so for me, tea is primarily a coffee date or cold morning commute beverage. While it does make reading the RedEye a little tricky (another reason why I delay gloves as long as possible…turning newspaper pages with gloved fingers while holding tea at 7:45 a.m. is a song and dance I try to avoid), I love how it keeps me warm while I’m trekking it work in the morning. Plus tea is just delicious. Right now I’ve been enjoying Trader Joe’s Harvest Blend Herbal Tea or the occasional chamomile (<– evidence of my lack of caffeine dependence) when my tummy is grumpy, and I’m sure green tea will make its reappearance soon enough. Mmm.

3. It’s book club week! And I…did not read the book. Haha. Officially, our book this month was Orange is the New Black. In what should come as a surprise to no one, there’s a bit of a wait list for it at the Chicago Public Library (this is your fault, Netflix!), so while I’m patiently waiting for my turn to get the book, I’ve been reading The Summer We Read Gatsby.

It’s awful. Just downright horrible. I hate it, but I’m not one to call it quits on a book, so I’m still trucking along (mostly to see if my predictions for the ending are correct. I don’t know how they could be wrong, though, since the author seems to think “foreshadowing” and “dropping hints the size of Mt. Everest” are apparently the same thing.). But man. The writing is just so bad. The characters are all caricatures and the storyline is weak. I imagine this book aims to be a beach read, but I don’t think even the beach deserves this book, unless you’re tossing it in the water in disgust.

Yea not a fan of the lack of tree colors. At home the colors were popping. In Baltimore, not so much. Fail. I realized this morning that it’s probably time to break out my mittens. Yes, I wear mittens instead of gloves. I really hate wearing gloves because my fingers turn numb and I don’t feel any warmer. I feel nothing. I’m a child, I’m aware of that. I do love this fall weather though! If only it were a few degrees warmer in the morning because I end up feeling like an ice cube all day long at work.

No, I totally feel you on the mitten situation. If I didn’t need to use my fingers to turn pages (because I usually read for the entirety of my commute to and from work), I would totally do the mitten thing. And YES. I’m always cold at work. I feel like I need to bring sweaters to wear on top of my sweaters. Haha.

Ahhh, why is it so cold already? I saw SNOW flurries this morning on my run. Chicago has to be messing with us, it’s October! The lack of colors is pretty typical for Chicago, for whatever reason trees stay green here. It’s nothing like Michigan.

SNOW!! I’m so jealous. I’ve been waiting to see snow and I haven’t yet. Back home I guess they all woke up to white lawns this morning, and I’m bitter. I’m also bitter about this tree situation?! How did I not notice this last year? I do not approve. Gimme my pretty trees!

There are some pretty trees on the UIC campus that I can see outside my apartment window! So, it’s not all green out there 🙂

Do you have any of those gloves/mittens where the top flips off? I LOVE those. They’re almost all I wear. Mittens enough to keep my fingers warm but with all the functionality to use my fingers when I need.

Other than this month’s book club book I’ve started two others that I just don’t feel compelled to finish. But I’m flying to Las Vegas on Sunday and will need something to read on the plan so I might break down and finish them.

Glittens! No, I do not have any glittens. Those were big amongst my trumpet section in high school, because they were ideal for playing your instrument outside on cold days. I should invest in some glittens.

I’m glad to hear not ALL of Chicago is boring in the color department, even if the parts I see mostly are. Though, to be honest, I suppose I haven’t really spent *that* much time observing things from my window, since lately I’ve only been home when it’s dark outside. Maybe I’m just missing everything!

Yesss I’m also loving the cold weather lately! I think it’s one of the main reasons I’m currently obsessed with running right now. But I’m with you on the lack of pretty trees everywhere. Central Park is basically the only part of the city that’s showing signs of fall. I have a feeling that, much like spring, fall will be “skipped” again as it was last year and we’ll be hit with winter soon.